knotbrush
07-06-2010, 04:40 AM
I took up casting again a year ago after 25 years off. I cast with Lee TL 6-bangers in .38, .45 and 9mm using a Lee 20# BP pot. I've made and shot thousands of WW alloy boolits and learned quite a bit. It seems that following instructions and reading OP's advice limits the amount of trouble, bad parts and wasted time...imagine THAT!
I just finished casting about 20 lbs of 124gr TC 9mm using a new alloy. I bought it as "linotype spacers" that supposedly has a bit higher Tin. The boolits DO look beautiful! I cast at #8 on the thermostat, which is a bit on the hot side, and got great fill-out and very few rejects. Most came out very shiny but some that came out shiny then frosted over after a minute or so right before my eyes. Usually, I get frosted bullets right out of the mold if they frost at all. I tried cooling the mold, cooling the pot down a notch or so. It was still hit and miss with the strange frosting. (Not that it matters, they will still shoot just fine.)
The only other difference is that up until today I've used FA "Drop Out" mold release. The stuff works great but I wanted to try smoke. I scrubbed the mold with solvent and smoked it with a Bic lighter. That works just as good as "Drop Out" and the bullet finish looks better.
I just finished casting about 20 lbs of 124gr TC 9mm using a new alloy. I bought it as "linotype spacers" that supposedly has a bit higher Tin. The boolits DO look beautiful! I cast at #8 on the thermostat, which is a bit on the hot side, and got great fill-out and very few rejects. Most came out very shiny but some that came out shiny then frosted over after a minute or so right before my eyes. Usually, I get frosted bullets right out of the mold if they frost at all. I tried cooling the mold, cooling the pot down a notch or so. It was still hit and miss with the strange frosting. (Not that it matters, they will still shoot just fine.)
The only other difference is that up until today I've used FA "Drop Out" mold release. The stuff works great but I wanted to try smoke. I scrubbed the mold with solvent and smoked it with a Bic lighter. That works just as good as "Drop Out" and the bullet finish looks better.